Multiple POVs Present for the same Event (Spoilers Extended)

Background

In this post I thought it would be interesting to take a look at what GRRM chose to do while writing "major" events with multiple POVs present. I find this interesting since the POVs were once all (except Dany) together before being spread (with some being killed and others added) before GRRM brings them back together. This should (hopefully) be the start of a series of posts on POVs over the next couple of days/weeks.

If interested: GRRM on What He Tries to do with POV Characters

Killing Off a POV

About 4 years ago, I posted Death of a POV: There is always another POV Character Around, in which I argued that in every case of a POV dying there was another character present to pick up the story:

• Eddard Stark (Arya/Sansa)
• Catelyn Stark (Arya)
• Arys Oakheart (Arianne Martell, Areo Hotah)
• Quentyn Martell (Barristan Selmy and to a lesser extent Tyrion/Victarion)

If interested: GRRM: Gardening/Shifting Deaths

SSMs

GRRM was asked about writing chapters from multiple POVs in same setting and responded that he has done it in certain locations but not frequently:

Q: Do you often write the different outcomes of a chapter from both P.O.V. characters who share the same setting? TWOW has so many of them converging, I could understand you wanting to see which is the stronger route to go if you were to see it from the opposite perspective.
GRRM: Not usually. I did some of that in DANCE when I was struggling with the Meereenese knot, and also in FEAST with those kingsmoot chapters... but elsewise, nah, usually know which POV will work best before I begin-SSM, Dilemma when P.O.V. Characters Meet?: 11 May 2016

Major Events

Obviously the word major is extremely subjective as we have smaller events that involve multiple POVs interacting (Tyrion/Jon at the Wall) as well.

Note: Some events have characters that had not become POVs yet present, for this exercise I am going to exclude them

Tyrion's Trial in the Vale

• POVs Present: Catelyn Stark, Tyrion Lannister
• POV of Event: Catelyn Stark
• Outcome: Tyrion leaves the Vale (without flying) but is left defenseless from the Mountain Clans,

Ned's Execution

• POVs Present: Eddard Stark, Sansa Stark, Arya Stark
• POV of Event: Arya Stark
• Outcome: Ned dies (no longer POV), Sansa is a hostage, Arya flees KL with the help of Yoren

I have an ego. Normally I like things done the way I did it. But David and Dan improved that scene. In the books, Ned doesn't say anything or see Arya there and it's purely coincidence that Yoren finds her. It's a lovely moment and I wish I had done it that way. The death of Ned Stark could not have been done any better. -GRRM (Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon)

The Sack of Winterfell

• POVs Present: Bran Stark, Theon Greyjoy
• POV of Event: Theon Greyjoy, Bran Stark (aftermath)
• Outcome: Theon is taken prisoner by Ramsay (not known by the reader at time time), Bran had been "killed" (miller's boys) by Theon and was revealed to be alive in his last chapter

The Red Wedding

• POVs Present: Catelyn Stark, Arya Stark
• POV of Event: Catelyn Stark (inside the Twins), Arya Stark (outside)
• Outcome: Catelyn Stark is executed and no longer a POV (later resurrected after being saved from the river by Nymeria), Arya flees the area after the Hound "saves her" (flat of an axe to the head)

The Purple Wedding

• POVs Present: Tyrion Lannister, Sansa Stark
• POV of Event: Tyrion Lannister
• Outcome: Joffrey Lannister's death is blamed on Tyrion who is put on trial, Sansa escapes King's Landing with the help of Dontos

Bran/Sam at the Black Gate

• POVs Present: Bran Stark, Samwell Tarly
• POV of Event: Bran Stark
• Outcome: Meera catches Sam in a Net after they encounter each other at the Nightfort, Sam helps them through the Black Gate where Coldhands is waiting so Bran can continue North, Sam heads to Castle Black

The Jon Snow/Sam Tarly overlap

• POVs Present: Jon Snow, Samwell Tarly
• POV of Event: Jon Snow, Samwell Tarly
• Outcome: ADWD, Jon II and AFFC, Samwell I have significant overlap in dialogue in which Jon sends Sam south to the Citadel

The Kingsmoot

• POVs Present: Aeron Greyjoy, Victarion Greyjoy, Asha Greyjoy
• POV of Event: Aeron Greyjoy
• Outcome: Euron Greyjoy chosen as king, Asha flees the Iron Isles, Victarion begrudgingly supports Euron, later is sent to Slaver's Bay, Aeron is taken captive by Euron

These are the kind of issues I am struggling with – trying to find the right answer. Initially, when I began this a million years ago, there was just one chapter: Aeron Damphair at the Kingsmoot. We saw the Kingsmoot through his eyes. But, it expanded as you can see. There is stuff leading up to the Kingsmoot. I tell the Kingsmoot from three different viewpoints; similar in the Dornish thing. These are the kinds of things I am going back and forth about. Some of these things are making this book very difficult. I never intended these viewpoints to come on. They all began as prologue viewpoints, but its necessary; there’s stuff happening in Dorne and the Iron Islands that is going to have an impact on the book. I couldn’t figure out any logical way to get Sansa to Dorne or Bran to the Iron Islands to see what was going on -SSM, GamePro Interview: 6 August 2003

The Queenmaker Plot Unravelment

• POVs Present: Arys Oakheart, Arianne Martell, Areo Hotah
• POV of Event: Arianne Martell
• Outcome: Arys Oakheart dies (no longer POV) via Hotah's ash and iron wife, Arianne is taken captive

If interested: The Curse of the Queenmaker & "Eternal Shame": Thoughts on an Abandoned Plotline in Dorne

The Meereenese Knot

• POVs Present: Daenerys Targaryen, Quentyn Martell, Barristan Selmy, Tyrion Lannister, Victarion Greyjoy
• POV of Event: There are multiple events here - Dany (Drogon & the Pit), Quentyn Martell (Dragontamer), Barristan (aftermath)
• Outcome: Daenerys flees on dragonback from Meereen to the Dothraki Sea, Quentyn dies (no longer a POV), Barristan takes over as the inside Meereen POV

Now I can explain things. It was a confluence of many, many factors: lets start with the offer from Xaro to give Dany ships, the refusal of which then leads to Qarth's declaration of war. Then there's the marriage of Daenerys to pacify the city. Then there's the arrival of the Yunkish army at the gates of Meereen, there's the order of arrival of various people going her way (Tyrion, Quentyn, Victarion, Aegon, Marwyn, etc.), and then there's Daario, this dangerous sellsword and the question of whether Dany really wants him or not, there's the plague, there's Drogon's return to Meereen... All of these things were balls I had thrown up into the air, and they're all linked and chronologically entwined. The return of Drogon to the city was something I explored as happening at different times. 
For example, I wrote three different versions of Quentyn's arrival at Meereen: one where he arrived long before Dany's marriage, one where he arrived much later, and one where he arrived just the day before the marriage (which is how it ended up being in the novel). And I had to write all three versions to be able to compare and see how these different arrival points affected the stories of the other characters. Including the story of a character who actually hasn't arrived yet -Asshai.com: Interview in Barcelona - 29 July 2012

If interested: The Meereenese Knot: The Three Arrivals of the Frog Prince

Near Future

Obviously this section calls for quite a bit of speculation:

Brienne/Jaime and the Brotherhood

• POVs Present: Jaime Lannister, Brienne of Tarth, Catelyn Stark (no longer a POV)
• POV of Event: TBD (Jaime or Brienne)
• Situation: Brienne is seemingly taking Jamie back to the Lady Stoneheart/the BwB to answer for his crimes (or else Pod/Hyle will die).

If interested: The Brotherhood without Banners: History with Jaime Lannister

The Showdown at the Tree/Prelude to Battle of Ice

• POVs Present: Theon Greyjoy, Asha Greyjoy, Bran Stark
• POV of Event: TBD (I would guess 1 of Theon/Asha and we would get part of it in a Bran chapter as well)
• Situation: Stannis needs to execute Theon (for his crime of killing Bran/Rickon) or the northmen will abandon him, Asha recommends that instead of burning Theon that Stannis take him out to the weirwood and give Theon to the Old Gods

"Then do the deed yourself, Your Grace." The chill in Asha's voice made Theon shiver in his chains. "Take him out across the lake to the islet where the weirwood grows, and strike his head off with that sorcerous sword you bear. That is how Eddard Stark would have done it. Theon slew Lord Eddard's sons. Give him to Lord Eddard's gods. The old gods of the north. Give him to the tree." -TWOW, Theon I

If interested: Stannis/Theon & The Weirwood Tree in the Crofters' Village

The Battle of Fire

• POVs Present: Tyrion Lannister, Barristan Selmy, Victarion Greyjoy
• POV of Event: All 3 (GRRM plans to cut back and forth between viewpoints for the Battles of Ice/Fire)
• Situation: The battle between Team Dany (who is gone on the Dothraki Sea) and the Slaver Alliance is pretty one sided based on the chapters available to the reader, due to this I think the true drama lies in the aftermath/potential power vacuum

Euron & Oldtown

• POVs Present: Aeron Greyjoy, Samwell Tarly
• POV of Event: TBD (depending on if Aeron's last chapter was the Forsaken or he gets another during Euron's Summoning)
• Situation: Euron is going to attempt some form of ritual as he battles the Redwyne Fleet, etc. how involved this ritual is with the actual attack on Oldtown is TBD, but the Hightowers have been prepping defenses (in numerous ways). Aeron is strapped to the prow of Silence, while Sam while likely be at the Citadel (or at a minimum with the Sphinx and Lazy Leo).

TLDR: Looking at how GRRM uses multiple POVs when there is a major event. While GRRM hasn't killed off a POV in the main story without another POV present, there are many large events that have multiple POVs present that does not result in a death. That said with what we know about GRRM's creation process for the POVs and the reasons that some of them exist, we should definitely be more willing to accept theories about dead POV characters when they are interacting with another POV at the time (especially since he plans to keep killing them off and not adding more).